New Relief For Chronic One Sided Headaches

A new wonder of technology has created a new suboccipital stimulator at 1/12th the size of previous! It has been found useful for chronic one sided headache called chronic hemicrania for which indomethacin has been the mainstay of treatment

• The bion is a rechargeable, self-contained, battery powered, telemetrically programmable, current controlled mini-neurostimulator with an integratedelectrode and battery that are encased in a device that measures 27 mm by 3·3 mm and weighs 0·7 g.
• The lithium-ion battery is charged with an external device that contains electric coils, which create an electromagnetic field.

Results:

• “median follow-up of 13·5 months (range 6–21 months)
• five of six patients reported sufficient benefit to recommend the device to other patients with HC [hemicrania].
• At long-term follow-up, four of six patients reported a substantial improvement (80–95%), one patient reported a 30% improvement, and one patient reported that his pain was worse by 20%.
• The onset of the benefit of ONS [occipital nerve stimulation] was delayed by days to weeks, and headaches did not recur for a similar period when the device was switched off .
• Adverse events were mild and associated with transient overstimulation.”

Comments:

This looks like an miracle. I had one lady with suboccipital stimulator for occipital neuralgia. It was huge – had battery implanted like a pacemaker in her lower trunk. This is a tremendous improvement.

One thing that is noticable from the picture is that it stimulates the greater occipital nerve – not the lesser. The lady I mentioned above had considerable pain coming from the later which could explain why it failed to help – of course this was for occipital neuralgia – not hemicrania where it may not make a difference (though I wonder if the one case they had that was worse was such involved) – I guess time will tell.